Tuesday, March 10, 2009

One of the weirdest things about watching the Republicans fighting their corner is to notice how often they take a stance on something which appears to be an honourable cause - in this case preserving the secret ballot - which, on examination, turns out to be simply false.

In this case they are arguing that the Employee Free Choice Act, which allows workers to found a union, will "turn America into Europe" by "taking away the secret ballot".

The only problem is that it does no such thing. If employees want an election they can still have one. The act simply does not do what the Republicans are claiming.

The truth is that the Republicans, rather than supporting the workers, are actually terrified that workers might organise themselves into a potent force. And this is why Republicans, during the recent auto bailout debate, actually found themselves arguing that American car workers should be paid less.

So it's hard to believe that their concern in this case is with worker's rights. And yet that is how they are framing this debate. That's astonishing. How are they allowed to get away with this?

Search Osterley Times or the Web

Tortured.

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That is why the greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another.

The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.